This blog has Moved to http://sandwaves.wordpress.com/

Have Moved Out

2010-03-29T11:15:00.003+05:30

Hi Guys, I have moved this blog to Wordpress some time back.

Please do visit me at http://sandwaves.wordpress.com/

See you there!

Yellow on Black

2009-10-31T16:55:00.003+05:30

New roads were laid overnight in many BBMP governed areas of Bangalore - thanks to the impending BBMP elections.

Some pictures from outside our house. The half finished road lends its beauty to the shots.

la tierra es incredible

2009-10-28T15:06:00.005+05:30

Lately I have started signing off my official emails with the green message "Good planets are hard to find"..

Today I stumbled upon the exact reason why!
The net probability of another Earth (or a 'good' planet) forming again is: 1:10⁹⁹ !!
(See the first link at the end of this post for substantiation)

The 'impossibly large' moon, the circular orbit of earth, the safe location of our solar system in the turbulent galaxy, a miraculous head-on collision by a small planet that formed the moon and our thin atmosphere... the coincidences are endless!

Here's a quote from Dr. Nick Hoffman of La Trobe University, Melbourne Australia:

"Around countless stars in our galaxy, and innumerable galaxies through space there will surely be Terrestrial planets, yet they will not be Earth-like. They will not have glistening Silver Moons orbiting silently through space around them, but only small dull rocks whizzing in orbit. The worlds will be, almost without exception, waterworlds."

Here are the links that'll guarantee a spaced-out look at the end!

http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/designss.html#MQrkCfHwr65u

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01x1.html

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01x2.html

My tribute as well.

2009-10-22T15:21:00.009+05:30

In the Outlook Inbox at my work, I keep a folder named "Bouqets and Brickbats". It is a folder where I store all the memorable words - from customers, from colleagues. I reach out to that folder in hours of desperation - when a renewed faith in self and the work ecosystem is need of the hour..

This year in June a very special email made its way to this folder. It merely said "Let me chime and thank you from my side as well. Keep up the great work!" But it was signed - Ranjan.
Ranjan Das - the fabled CEO of SAP India. The face of SAP India, he was leading it boldly from one success peak to another. And Ranjan Das had personally appreciated my work for one of the largest customers of SAP India. Was I proud!

Yesterday Ranjan Das passed away. He had a massive cardiac arrest on the way back from his daily workout. The man was young and he defined the word 'discipline' - ate right, jogged, worked out, ran marathon, did not have any addictions - not even cigarettes! Worked hard, lived his life, motivated his people.

This is just not fair.

View from my balcony

2009-10-14T10:46:00.004+05:30

Went to dry my laundry in the balcony (3rd floor).. noticed a beautiful butterfly on the balcony sill of the flat below.. rushed in and got the camera.. here are the snaps.

Random pods

2009-07-30T13:49:00.002+05:30

Listened to a podcast on entrepreneurial thoughts over the commute to 9TO5.. Some quotes:

"When you get a job, you don't get a job you get a key to the building."
(elaborated with, you don't have to wait for someone to give you responsibilities or problems to solve..)

"Entrepreneurs build the ladder below them"
(said in conjunction with how entrepreneurs don't have to wait to be anointed. They can choose to print 'president' or 'ceo' on their business cards)

"To solve a problem: You first have to know the world with the problem. Then you have to visualize the world without the problem. Then build steps to reach from this world to that."

The good citizen

2009-07-21T10:27:00.005+05:30

For 2 days the garbage collection truck did not come to Umesh' house. His house is in HSR layout - one of the popular residential layouts of Bangalore. He took the trash out in search of a garbage bin nearby.
There was none.

The good citizen he is, he did not throw it in the nearest vacant land, and hopped into his car along with the trash bag. He drove around his sector of HSR Layout, then the next, and the next - in search of a garbage bin.
There was none.

Then he drove out to the Outer Ring Road, and still did not find any.
Not willing to give up, he walked into his office on outer ring road, the garbage bag replacing his laptop bag that usually walks in with him..
He looked around and finally found one on the 7th floor of the building.
He dumped his garbage bag in that garbage bin - a proud moment for the city that has citizens such as him.

But, what happens when the garbage truck does not come to his house the next time? What did other people in his layout do - who don't have a vehicle or an office or were getting late for their kids' school?

I got a forward this morning about this initiative to clean Bangalore in a day: http://www.cbengaluru.com/. It is a drive organized by an NGO - Anonymous Indian (?!), calling all citizens of Bangalore to join in this noble drive on August-15.
(Of course, this is a well implemented prank! Thanks, Anon!)

But, what are the city administrators doing??? I am sure they will not get the point that the joke is on them!

Internet killed the childhood crush..

2009-07-06T18:31:00.007+05:30

Recently I got back in touch with my childhood crush (one of the many, of course).. Those school days when anyone who - looked remotely like shashi kapoor or sang kishore kumar songs, or begged adoringly for forgiveness to the principal for being caught red-handed smoking in the bathroom - qualified as a crush...

And even in those primary school years you knew that the best way to keep your one-sided romance going, is not talk to the other.. Just stare now and then, and imagine that he stares when you are not watching.. just like the latest hindi movie you saw.. That make-believe romance gave enough morale high to see through the continuous bad hair days, fear of missed out homework, and worries of not finding a place next to your favorite benchmates when the classroom changed with the academic year..

So, here I am, after a few decades, happily settled in every meaning of the word - taking time whenever life permits to look back and relish those innocently clumsy memories. In my imagination, every crush had grown into a shashi kapoor or a kishore kumar or an underworld don..

..Until one of those kiddos found me on a social networking site..

Now I know about his whole history, where he went to college, who his friends are, what they talk, what his hobbies are, what his kid looks like and more.. Rrrrrrippppppp....The curtains on a stage dimly lit with delicious mystery was suddenly lifted to reveal stark brightness of knowing... And in that brightness disappeared one of my fondest memories..

These are the very few times I wish the inventor of the www paid heed to the words -"Ignorance is Bliss".. :)

What do you say?

Say NO to public transport in Bangalore - if you are going to ITPL

2009-06-09T09:32:00.017+05:30

Or anywhere in between Marathalli and ITPL. At least, I, an avid supporter of environmentalism have vowed today that i'll drive a gas-guzzling big car to work with only the lone me sitting in it, but will not ride another BMTC bus to work.

I started working in this office (SAP Labs) 3 months back. The office is just 4.5 km from my home and being a temp assignment, taking the office bus is not an option. I was taking the BMTC buses, with intermittent patches of cycling to work (cycling albeit extremely satisfying, just does not feel safe on this heavy traffic route, so not a reliable option).

My experience with BMTC has been nothing noteworthy when i travelled on the 'towards city' routes. This was the first time I travelled towards ITPL.

This route is a "loot-these-rich-kids-they-won't-mind" route - a phenomenon rampant in Bangalore. All the buses are loaded with well dressed hard-working IT/ITES workers. even the high-end red Volvos are bursting at the doors, with people holding the handles of the movable doors to hang on..

The driver and conductor are in a rush to make money. Below are the ways they cheat BMTC as well as the passengers, and seems like BMTC does not care a hoot:

1. The conductor takes money from you for ticket and doesn't give you the ticket. Most of the time passengers don't bother to waste words for a piece of paper which is anyway of no use to them.

Personal experience:

(a) 335E khaki color bus: I asked for 'SAP Labs', the conductor asked 5 Rs. from me which I gave. No ticket, he just started moving away. I asked for the ticket, he asked me for 3Rs. more and then gave me the ticket! What just happened!

(b) 500K Volvo bus: The conductor starts taking money from everyone in a hurry, does not enter a single one in his ticketing machine. He does this for 30 odd passengers, then leans at the door, quietly looking out - hid job done. No one asks for the ticket. I ask for the ticket and he says he does not remember who gave how much money!!!! I said I gave you 15Rs. for the 'SAP Labs' stop. He says ok and hands me the ticket. After some time he tears away half a roll of ticket printing paper from his machine and just throws it away!! Dear BMTC, did you know this?!

2. The conductor takes money, gives ticket, but does not return your change. He just says I'll give it to you later. He does this with EVERY passenger! Every passenger has to constantly beg him that his stop is approaching and he needs his change! WHY?? In the hope that at least some passengers will either forget to ask or find it too measly an amount to keep asking! Dear BMTC, I hear you are the only profit-making transport corpn in India - are you paying your conductors/drivers? Why do they have to cheat like this??

3. Conductor gives you ticket for a bus-stop, but the driver does not stop at that bus-stop! Did you know that 'SAP Labs' is not a bus-stop??!! All these 3 months I did not know, because all the buses ticketed me for that stop and had been stopping there to offload us. (however the print on the volvo tickets would say 'sai baba hospital' which is the next stop after mine). For those of you from outside Bangalore, not all bus-stops in Bangalore have sign-boards saying this is a bus-stop.

TODAY WHAT HAPPENED: This was a khaki 335 route bus. The conductor jostled happily through the bus-front full of ladies (i appreciate the chennai bus conductors who sit in one place and passengers pass on the ticket money and ticket), came to me and said 'ticket ticket', i clearly told him 'sap labs', gave him Rs.10. He gave me a Rs.8 ticket, and returned the change after my asking - nothing unusual by now. When the SAP labs stop came and I requested the driver to stop, he looked at me and hit the switch to close the automatic door which was open all the while!!! I asked what happened he said this is not a bus-stop, i asked why didn't the conductor tell me that, i would've got ticket for the previous stop (Rs.5). The conductor shouted from the back saying he doesn't have to tell such things, just get down at the next stop.

So he opened the door only at the next stop. I walked back to 'sap labs' on the highway which has no footpath, with oncoming rush-hour traffic of many cars, buses & two-wheelers.

I have vowed to do 3 things:

1. Lodge a complaint to BMTC for this bus no. KA01-FA-1087, route HAL to ITPL.

2. Not take another public bus on this route, ever again. These 3 months i have stood on one leg in the crowded buses, clutching on to my heavy laptop bag, feeling good that I am doing the best I can for the environment. Today onward I will drive my air-conditioned gas-guzzler instead - right from my apartment basement to office basement.

3. Encourage everyone who can afford a car/bike, to take it to work if you work in ITPL and around. Just like most of us self-respecting Bangaloreans avoid using Autos because the shabby way they treat their passengers, if BMTC does nothing about its buses, they would soon run only with citizens who don't care or can't afford to care. The rest can afford their self-dependence - to hell with the pollution in Bangalore city.

Sprays and sprouts

2009-06-08T15:04:00.004+05:30

One of my favorite NGOs - TreesforFree.Org
Admittedly I have actively participated in only one drive - raised money and got hands gleefully dirty planting saplings (in an apartment complex in sarjapur)..
Lately had to limit only to spreading the word.. Got to rejuvenate that green thumb..

However, been greening up the balcony alright - last weekend we had a mini adventure into a nursery almost outside city limits - beyond the granite shops and train crossing. This was a vast piece of land covered with potted saplings for sale, run by a little house (with ladies in nighties and an old thatha) next to the field.. It started raining when we reached, had a gala time hopping on mud in the midst of the pitter patter, looking at wet saplings! The LSU umbrella surrendered to the wind, it needs complete repair now.. Got back home with a pomegrenate hybrid (to be bonsai'd), kadi patta sapling, petunia, 9 o'clock, and another plant that looks like bunch of grapes - the maali said it's a cactus variety but can't find the actual name..

phew.. the rust on my blog-finger

2009-06-08T13:39:00.002+05:30

I have not been blogging - in a long while.. And I have air-tight excuses:

1. The good old Sony cybershot 3Megapixel, does not hold charge any more.. what good is a blog post without the original snaps.. I don't like using a phone for a camera or a bulky slr.

2. Life got a little busy, and turbulent.. those patches when you helplessly wonder "why me...again?!", as well as feel strong for fighting that battle.. and that battle cannot be chronicled in a blog post.

3. The overall question of 'To Blog' or 'Not to Blog' crisscrossed my mind.. To my generation blogging is still an acquired taste.

Today 'to blog' momentarily won over. Uploaded 2 photos in the earlier post - their beauty was lying dormant inside the cybershot's hard-disk. Gotta do something about da cam..

Oh-so green today!

2009-03-17T08:32:00.008+05:30

I am very proud to report that I bicycled to work today! It is a 4.5 KM stretch, I had been feeling guilty to take the car for this short a distance, and the city buses on this stretch are so crowded I was sweating it out anyway.

Started from home at 7:30am in my gym clothes, with a change of office gear in my lappie backback. eguy and trg saw me off, with trg saying 'chykail'.. Took the inclined inside roads of east bangalore, lined with houses donning fresh rangoli at their entrances, the Ganesha temple busy with activities and trees full of seasonal pink blossoms! Moved over to the main road and rode on the pedestrian side (facing the oncoming traffic). It felt safer that way, inspite of cars and buses zooming by. Wrapped a scarf I had taken over my head and nose to avoid the dust.

Reached work in 15 minutes - same as that a car would take with the traffic congestions, and less than the time the bus would take with its many stops. Yippppeee!!

Feeling good! Wish me grit so that I can persist on this hike!

Why on earth do I Yahoo! ?!

2009-02-23T16:34:00.004+05:30

I have been hearing from the eguy gloomy stories about how emails sent to his users with yahoo ids keep bouncing left and right.. Either Yahoo decides to not accept the perfectly harmless emails, or just sends them to the spam folder.. And believe me you, eguy has tried every trick to pass them through.

Now I myself don't like yahoo mail much.. Its new interface was so crowded I switched back to the old interface. And the old interface does not provide useful features and does not integrate with chat as well as gmail does.. In short, I am in the gmail camp. And I use my yahoo id for backup - mainly for yahoogroups.

Well today, I sent an email, from my yahoo inbox, to a long-existing yahoogroup of which I am the owner, and is moderated by me. Yahoogroup typically sends me an email to approve the email (yeah! even if it is sent by me!). I was waiting for this email. Found it in the spam folder! Why o why, Yahoo??!! Are you suspecting that I am spamming myself, or are you suspecting yourself (yahoogroups) of sending me spam??!!

I am going to think seriously about phasing out my yahoo id..

Vintage on my mind...

2009-02-23T10:41:00.005+05:30

Was watching the movie 'The Hoax' yesterday.. Richard Gere, in one scene, watches the tv to see how his hoax of a book on Howard Hughes is being covered by the media. The coca cola commercial shows up on his screen - "I'd like to buy the world a coke.." And it struck a chord in me - hey, i used to love this song! Brings back the memories of listening to this and other easy-to-sing-along 'angrejee' songs on my long & quiet commute on the TCS airbus, 8 years back..

So here is a youtube track of the song sung by two members of the Hillside Singers, and below are the lyrics. Go ahead, sing along!

I'd like to build the world a home
and furnish it with love.
Grow apple trees and honey bees
and snow white turtle doves.

I'd like to teach the world to sing
in perfect harmony.
I'd like to hold it in my arms,
and keep it company

I'd like to see the world for once
all standing hand in hand.
And hear them echo through the hills
for peace throughout the land.

It's the real thing
what the world wants today,
That's the way it'll stay
with the real thing.

I'd like to teach the world to sing
in perfect harmony.
A song of peace that echoes on
and never goes away.

Put your hand in my hand
let's begin today,
With your hand in my hand
help me find a way.

I'd like to see the world for once
all standing hand in hand.
And hear them echo through the hills
for peace throughout the land.

I'd like to teach the world to sing,
in perfect harmony.
A song of peace that echos on,
and never goes away.

My share of pink

2009-02-11T12:21:00.005+05:30

This, for the collective big bully of moral policing:

PS: Making do with just a picture as i'm short of time to send a physical one.. Go, pink chaddi campaign!

Mumbai....??

2009-02-09T15:58:00.004+05:30

Economic Times was following the Mumbai terror attack and above is the picture that accompanied each of those articles.. I thought it was very apt..

Now, my question: What happened? Why no news about the investigation?

I am Gen-Y

2009-02-03T17:00:00.009+05:30

This year I have become conscious of money, of livelihood, of sustainability. This is the first recession I am living through and it gives me mixed feelings. Until now, I have only seen growth, I have only seen bank balances grow, I have only seen jobs running after hard-working people and not away from them..

I had once walked into a coca-cola bottling plant. Our factory tour-guide had taken us from a warm office room of the factory into the refrigerator section and then into the deep freeze section and then into the coldest section where the secret coca-cola concentrate is stored..

This recession somehow reminds me of it.

When it all started last year with the bank failures, I felt I was getting into something cold, but it will not bother me much.. Then I saw my stock portfolio get into deep red, and I knew we would have to keep a close watch on our liquidity. But still, this did not bother me much.. This month my employer, a conservative industry leader that is known to value its people, announced the first round of job cuts.. NOW, I am not so sure.. !

I see so many changes all around me.. Just last year, same time, all marketing messages were about "splurge, you have money and there is more to come!" and now all marketing messages are about "buy, because this will help you save money elsewhere..". Every punchline is about difficulties. Even the new Honda City ad says "Enjoy your challenges."

Economic Times is flush with news of negative growth, quarterly losses, tightened spends, interest rates climbing down in tandem with earnings, Gen-Y getting into depression.. And as of date, they say it is only the tip of the iceberg..

Ice.. getting back to my walk into the cold storage.. I sure hope that I and my fellow Gen-Y will be able to walk through this recession, feeling the chill and doing everything to keep their spirits high.

And when we survive the walk, at the end each one of us will find that secret coca-cola concentrate. It would be a concentrated life experience which will make us stronger and which we can proudly narrate to our grand kids on warm spring nights..

2 o o 9

2008-12-30T22:19:00.003+05:30

Figured that this will be the last year we'd see those two zero's together..

The Man in the Arena

2008-12-26T09:46:00.006+05:30

"IT IS NOT THE CRITIC WHO COUNTS;
NOT THE MAN WHO POINTS OUT
HOW THE STRONG MAN STUMBLED,
OR WHERE THE DOER OF DEEDS
COULD HAVE DONE BETTER.

THE CREDIT BELONGS TO THE MAN
WHO IS ACTUALLY IN THE ARENA;

WHOSE FACE IS MARRED
BY DUST AND SWEAT AND BLOOD;
WHO STRIVES VALIANTLY;
WHO ERRS AND COMES SHORT
AGAIN AND AGAIN;

WHO KNOWS THE GREAT ENTHUSIASMS,
THE GREAT DEVOTIONS,
AND SPENDS HIMSELF IN A WORTHY CAUSE;

WHO AT BEST KNOWS IN THE END
THE TRIUMPH OF HIGH ACHIEVEMENT;
AND WHO AT THE WORST

IF HE FAILS,
AT LEAST FAILS WHILE DARING GREATLY;
SO THAT HIS PLACE SHALL NEVER BE
WITH THOSE COLD AND TIMID SOULS
WHO KNOW NEITHER VICTORY NOR DEFEAT."

-Theodore Roosevelt.
As presented in the book 'You are the Message' by Roger Ailes. Found this book yesterday in Strand Book Festival. Came as an inspiring surprise as just day before yesterday, had done some soul-searching on similar lines..

Me too book tag

2008-12-14T16:52:00.004+05:30

I liked what i saw on Anna's blog. Here is my part of the game.

About this game: RULE 1 - I have to grab one of the books closest to me, go to page 56, type the fifth line and the next two to five lines that follow.
(sorry Anna, i only liked RULE 1, so just like calvinball, playing the game only by this rule. :) )

First, a brainstorm is not a regular meeting. It's not something you take notes at. You don't take turns speaking in any orderly way. It shouldn't consume a morning or an afternoon. Sixty minutes seems to be the optimum length, in our experience..

From 'The Art of Innovation' by Tom Kelley (i am sitting in the home-office, did not find anything more colorful.. :) )

Dear Lalu bhaiya

2008-12-13T19:15:00.003+05:30

Just back from a Kolkata trip.. Took the Yashwantpur-Howrah express both way, and am in a mad rush to jot down the trip memories..

We had reserved the side berths (upper and lower) of sleeper class both way so that the cosy little family of ours can have whatever privacy a sleeper class can afford us. So we board our coach from the KR Puram station and to our shock, our seat numbers are stuck over lower and middle berths.. NOT side berths.. Obviously, my first reaction was one of fury on the eguy that he did not book the tickets right and now we have to stick with 36 hours of sharing living space with strangers, who'd find the little boy the obvious solution to the journey's boring moments, their interacting with him often involving physical closeness which, to a paranoid mom like me, means a definite infection..

Then I understood where the blame should rightly be placed. It's Lalu Bhaiya's handiwork! When we had booked the tickets, each sleeper coach had 72 seats (8 seats X 9 compartments), but when we boarded the train, Lalu's men had added one more seat to the side berths!! So now there were 81 seats, with one SIDE MIDDLE BERTH! Hence the reshuffle of the seat numbers.. The middle berth is well concealed, meant to be unfurled only in the night.. (damn me, didn't take any pictures..)

And o the pains of that side middle berth (i happened to sleep on it on the return journey) It is meant for dwarfs.. Even though I am not highly gifted in the vertical coordinates, I could not sit, no matter how i bent my body.. Now Lalu bhaiya you would ask, why do you need to sit deviji, middle berths are meant for sleeping.. Yeah, but you see bhaiya, moms of infants have to sit up a few times in the night trying to put their baby owl to sleep.. In the regular middle berth, it is possible to sit, if you keep your neck bent down, this side M berth, it is IMPOSSIBLE. So, in our case, we had to fold up that middle berth, move everything back on the lower berth, put the kiddo to sleep and then again move back to the middle berth. This, we did twice in a night..

Then came the part where I have to wash the kiddo's milk bottles et al at the sink in the narrow corridor which can hold 4 people standing comfortably.. I head over there with the bottles, dishwashing liquid, brush.. At the entrance of that corridor I am blocked by a crowd of 10 people. 2 are waiting for the bathroom, 2 are passengers without reservation, 2 are charging their cellphones (oh! didn't you know?! there are free electric outlets at the train corridors now) and 4 are waiting to get their cellphones charged.. So, against some resistance I reached the sink by displacing one passenger, who waited on the precarious vestibule joint.. Getting back from the sink was again a fight..

Lalu bhaiya, WHY the electric outlet? How many passengers really asked for it?! If high flying businessmen can be without making phone calls via their cellphones on long transnational trips, sleeper class passengers can not? I do admire the vision behind the idea and the technology that enables it, but the reality is that it is only serving the purpose of playing loud music and watching obscene movie clips on those cellphones.. (i am a witness of the latter happening in my neighboring compartment). Let people use their time to read books, chat up with their co-passengers, catch up on sleep, and let IRCTC save some electricity and use the money on killing some of those cockoraches in the coaches!

Now, if you really really want to help ppl make that extremely urgent call when their phone has lost charge, you can stock on battery run phone chargers. Rent it to people for money. Let them come to the pantry, pay and charge their phones there. Only people who really need it will pay for it.

Now, criticism apart, a few things that do deserve a honorable mention. The well-uniformed railway staff that came frequently to clean up the floors - until this journey i have only seen beggars doing that. The toilets were also cleaned well at every big station, and there was non-stop water supply throughout the trip. The frequent rounds of waterbottles and refreshments that the pantry maintained. Above all, maintaining an ON THE DOT train timing on both stretches.

So, to maintain the Shubh Yatra, Lalu Bhaiya, please keep up the good work and think a bit about your discerning passengers before impelementing half-baked ideas (to repeat - the side middle berth and the electric outlet)

Of conditional apologies & a prayer

2008-12-03T17:11:00.008+05:30

Per media, Mr.A of Kerala has apologised with the statement "IF my statements have hurt the martyr's family, I apologise".
IF? First, you refused to apologize. Now, you are apologizing with an 'IF'? You, Mr.A are a disgrace to the nation, even in your apology.

On a separate note, Pakistan has allegedly 'snubbed' India by not cooperating with the terror list. I feel media keeps using insulting words 'slapped, snubbed' (so does one chocolate face politician), to get more viewership, capitalizing on the high emotion and anger running around.. But my sincere prayer is that, the decision makers in the Govt., don't react hasitly against Pakistan. USA is entirely on our side this time, let's make use of that. Paksitan may be waiting for us to do something hasty (wage a war?) and further harm our peace and order situation. The worst that can happen to a country in the middle of a economic slowdown, is a war. So, people at the top, ignore those words, and take your time strategizing.

few soundbytes from another ashamed Indian..

2008-12-01T11:23:00.005+05:30

"We are ready for a meaningful intercourse with the terrorists" said Shivraj Patil after swearing in as the home minister..
So, Mr.Patil, India was waiting for you to arrive outside Taj hotel on Nov-26, holding a loudspeaker, requesting the terrorists (oops, your brothers) for a 'meaningful intercourse'.
India waited for 3 days, you never came! Oh! You must not have found the right suit to wear for the occasion..

"I will resign only after National Congress Party chief (Sonia Gandhi) asks me to" - Shivraj Patil after the Delhi blasts.
"I will resign only after National Congress Party chief (Sonia Gandhi) asks me to" - RR Patil (deputy CM, Maharashtra).
Both of the above gentlemen have resigned, but we have heard nothing from Mrs.Gandhi. Does she also not owe an apology to the nation, if only out of shame for mothering these men?

Today's news: "Indian Government has accepted help from FBI and Shin Bet (Israel's internal security group) for investigating the Mumbai attack. India had refused Israel's help when the attack was on. "
Dear Indian Government, I have a feeling we may have saved some lives if we had accepted the helping hand when the attack was on and we were running around like chicken with its head cut.. Perhaps now you can take some pictures of the well trained and adequately armed international forces and pin it up in your office with the caption "when i grow up, i want to be him.."

Palani trip & the lessons learnt

2008-11-26T10:31:00.009+05:30

Last weekend we went on a trip to Palani - the hill top temple of Lord Murugan. It is at an elevation of 1500 feet above sea level (click here for more info), so I may not be doing justice to it by calling it a hill.

On saturday morning we took the train from Bangalore to Coimbatore, the little boy's first train trip.. It was a welcome break from the long drives we used to take.. (somehow after getting back from US we only made trips in our car, could be because of the unexpectedly improved highways in the south or because our confidence with long drives).
Within 5 minutes of the train starting, the boy got very fidgety and we mistook it as hunger.. within another 5 minutes of stuffing the milk bottle into his mouth he threw up all over self and the seat.. suddenly the journey started looking VERY long! thankfully, rest of it was relatively uneventful.. We reached coimabtore and halted there for saturday.
Sunday morn we hit the road to Palani. The drive was beautiful, with windmill dotted fields and laid-back little villages..The plan was to get the boy's head shaved (tonsured) at the Palani foothills (a tradition followed on his dad's side) and then climb the hill and pray to Lord Murugan. We were armed with new razor blades, dettol and toy to distract the boy during the procedure.

On reaching the Palani foothills, we halted in New Tirupur Lodge for a quick breakfast, eventually Dinesh Karthik the cricketer, was also eating his dosas there, that caused quite some excitement among the cric enthusiasts in our group.

Post breakfast we entered a courtyard where the head shaving is done. We bought our tickets and were pleasantly surprised when they gave us brand new razor blades (sealed in its packaging) so that we can make sure they are new and do our disinfection of the same. We duly sterlized them in dettol and handed it over to the barber. Next few minutes were a scream riot when the barber struggled and the boy gave a good reason for the struggle.. the toy we had taken - a little beetle toy car ('cos we found he was fascinated by toy cars) was of no use. the boy got some cuts on his head and before we could react, the barber put some grey cottony stuff on the cut which looked like webby dust that we find in long uncleaned corners.. that totally psyched me out.. bro ran to buy some cotton, did not find any and came back with bandage cloth..

Anyway, all hair shed from the little head and a warm water bath later, we took to the steps that lead to the hilltop. We were running after a very tight timeline and had to make the whole climb without any rest. There is a cable-car and a winch facility available but my faith in temple technology is very feeble.
The run up the hill bore fruit when we found that the temple door closed just after we got in (for the afternoon puja prep). So we had the typical rush rush darshanam where the pujaris literally push you forth so that you cannot get more than 2 seconds view of the garbhagriha.. From what I remember, the Idol looked powerful, standing in dark with only bright ghee lamps throwing that dramatic brightness only indian temples can create..

An interesting observation was that if your head is shaved and you are entering the temple, you have to produce the ticket that you bought for the head shaving, otherwise you are not allowed in. This is a way for the temple authority to regulate head shaving business down at the foothills - that explains the new razors offered to us.

The climb down the hill was in equal hurry as our next agenda was to drop the nephew to his hostel on the way back home..

Above: The 'mottai' boy, the nephew and the rest of us on a tonga - a tourist attraction in Palani.

Now what are my lessons learnt:

1. Carry some cotton! We took only the dettol thinking about the razor sterilzing, did not think about the cuts at all..

2. Take adequate rests while climbing up/down the hill. All of us ended up with a decent leg pain after getting back, i had to take a sick leave.

3. Take a toy that makes LOUD sound and has BRIGHT lights! Nothing else can distract a captive kid..

Onto twitter!

2008-11-18T10:47:00.003+05:30

Just today I heard about Twitter.. I mean did hear about it before, but today I paid attention, and realized, man, this is exactly what I need.. Build my journal in a few words.. leave a sentence half said.. construct a clue to some of the very personal events that i cannot reveal to the wild www, but want to chronicle nevertheless..
So this is it, frequent twitting and occasional blogging (for those rather long winded thoughts)

today..

2008-11-12T16:45:00.004+05:30

today is eguy's birthday..

today i was in the presence of one of my favorite speakers - leo apotheker..
someone asked him why is our product so complex, can we not make it easy..? his answer (abridged) "well.. business itself is complex.. our product has to cater to that business.. however, we have to ensure that our product is not complicated..we have to understand the difference between complex and complicated - an airbus 380 is complex, a dish of spaghetti is complicated"... wow, i love to listen to this man..

today apartment adda got launched - a simple product from a simple team.. let us see if it gets complex or complicated!

the victory..

2008-11-05T14:07:00.004+05:30

i feel like the cinematic elation of 'the great debaters' has come to life..

eguy says chicago is celebrating and he wants to be there.. yes, i too for this one time, want to be there.. right now.. to be part of history..and see how the man moves his audience to tears... it would be like being part of an audience in the umpteen african american movies depicting their struggle that ended in triumph.. i wonder how the people on that stage feel like..

a sudden doubt - what if obama's mom were also from kenya... hmm..

aamar ..... bangla..

2008-10-31T19:36:00.007+05:30

Was reading one of my older posts about my home state.. and wanted to write down something i wanted to scream out for long:

KEE KORLEN MOMOTA DI..KEE KORLEN BUDDHO DA..

The state had one chance to be the cradle of a revolutionary thought, and you unworthy statesmen most rudely refused that chance and passed it over to another state! All for making the other party lose face in the next elections?

Can you ever overcome this shame and guilt?!

scribbling down the highlights...

2008-10-22T10:37:00.002+05:30

Today Chandrayaan was launched successfully...

Yesterday the logo was finalized..

Day before yesterday Sensex touched 9K

The day before that I worked on my first go-live..

The boy has started showing signs of understanding..

The garden finally has one flowering plant with fragrance (gandharaj)

I finally feel I know the value of money..

And like what I see in the mirror..

The Empress of Blandings

2008-08-30T16:20:00.009+05:30

Yesterday I blew my fuse..

Got a mail at work that there's a women's group to be formed and nominations are invited for the core team.. I was ecstatic with the thought that FINALLY management recognizes the 'different' needs of women at the workplace, and aims to work towards them..

So, yesterday I was eagerly looking forward to the meeting, when I and the other dynamic women in my workplace join together towards making our organization a more women-friendly one.. It already has got many good policies, but not many of us even know about it! Now is the time, to know the good and amend the not-so-good! Hence, even though it was Friday and my work was over by 4:30, I did not rush home to take the little fella out on a stroller walk (something he yearns for..), and waited for the 5:00 meeting..

Well... there were 5 of us women, all with hope in their eyes.. The meeting organizer started: 'In this forum we shall not talk about any sensitive issues, let us not make this a crib-session.. and this forum is in no way recognized or sponsored by the management.. they will provide us space'..

TO DO WHAT?!!! KNIT SWEATERS?!

That was that.. I wonder why I did not walk out right then.. Why did i sit there and took all the horseshit and tried to reason (i did say it on the organizer's face that this is just an eyewash).. Some other colleagues spoke more cool-headedly, i guess due to benevolence towards the organizer as she seemed to be fresh out of the schoolbus.. They talked about the womens' forums in other organizations, where the forum is meant to discuss 'sensitive issues' and address the painpoints of women employees (of course!)

Apparently this whole idea of forming a women's forum was to follow up on an action point gathered from a women's day discussion (i was on maternity leave then..).. and seems like they just took an easy way out to check off this action-point - by organizing a group of women who'd help conduct yoga/dance/book reading sessions!!!!

Wake up mehearties in certain HR holes! The women who you wish to herd without a forethought or preparation, are accomplished no-nonsense consultants who have seen quite a bit of the planet..!!
And personally, I refuse to eat anything that you lay out as grub in front of me, and I refuse to say Oink-oink to you when you pat my back.. (I say that only to my little fella, cuz that's his favorite part in "old macdonald had a farm"...)

(NOW i feel better!)

Salaam e ishq...

2008-08-07T14:52:00.002+05:30

This morning, sitting in the office shuttle, I was surprised out of my book - the RJ started playing Adnan Sami's 'silli silli tapti raton mein...dil kya kare..salaam e ishq'.. !
I looked out of the window, we were zooming down outer ring road.. the same patch of road that we travelled on 16th Jan..
The same road, the same song, but that day it was foggy and we had to speed cautiously.. it was 6AM with no traffic on the road.. I was on the backseat, counting the minutes of life between contractions.. did not speak a word throughout, except one complete sentence - "venkie, pls increase the volume on that song"...!

Today this song brought me that wave of nostalgia and it stayed on for quite some time.. :)

Kung Fu Panda and the MBA dream

2008-08-01T09:57:00.007+05:30

I am so happy with the latest trend in disney/pixar/dreamworks animation - not just all-nice characters with a predictable storyline and a mushy happy ending with a moral-of-the-story, but a trigger to multiple thought processes too..

Last week I saw Kung Fu Panda, and it gave a bamboo for thought to my current state of mind..

A lot of us salaried folks, at some point of time, think about getting an MBA (of course, if we don't have it already).. We believe that it will give us a quantum leap - will either quadruple our current salary levels, or will teach us how to start our own business.. And that leap is just what we need, to become that 'dragon warrior' - a transformed me..

And most of this bunch of us think there is a 'secret ingredient' that the B-schools possess and only that ingredient is lacking in us which is preventing us from becoming the 'dragon warrior'!

Then we go through the chosen B-School and we come out after two years of concentrated training and our eyes opened to "that unwritten scroll that reflects our face" . Then we know that what the B-school really has, is no secret ingredient, but three practical ones:

1. Consistent discipline - The intensity of the training, the almost-military discipline you have to follow to do well..

2. Network - The school of our choice brings us closer to the network we seek - like-minded people who fuel each other..

3. Belief in self - After you have seen it all, you don't have this constant nagging anymore : maybe the other guy with an MBA knows more than me and can run a business better than me... Because now you know that "there is no secret ingredient!"

So, as a conclusion - "GO PO" !!!

...and a Ladybird!

2008-07-29T11:11:00.004+05:30

Just while writing the previous post, a friend asked me to stop over at her desk.. i did, like a zombie, and she gave me a ladybird she had painted on a walnut shell..

:) An Omen that?!

Chocolate and Black Coffee

2008-07-29T10:40:00.005+05:30

Right now my mind is an entangled web of many choices.. no, it is an intersection of many highways and alleys, and my direction sense is at its worst..

I keep telling myself, these may be the best of times.. when I want to break free from status-quo.. when I can be brave enough to concede that my belief that this staus-quo is just right for me, is only a desperate illusion.. when ms.daredevil in me throws ms.humility to the backseat and grabs the wheels.. (and all this time i thought ms.daredevil did not come back with me from the delivery room..)

Went to the cafeteria and got a kit-kat and black coffee.. Thankfully, there was nothing else to choose from! For the records, kit-kat is TOO sweet (yeah..that must be another INDIfication thing..just like someone told me that Coke and Pepsi are made sweeter in India..Bah..)

for the love of 'people'

2008-07-28T11:56:00.002+05:30

Lately I came across two women.. one who had a disabled child and dedicated her life in helping that child lead a normal life.. being in a develop'ing' country like India that is a challenge - manifold.
The other has founded a not-for-profit organization in India, to help the blind feel included, and to make public areas more accessible to disables..

We, the blessed, look at not-for-profit organizations and say 'great, they are doing a good work'.. make a one time donation - with effort, or with money..and move on with life.. after all disabilities happen to 'other people'...

What happens if suddenly one day I get disabled - something like blindness.. the only way I can lead an independent life is to relocate to a developed country - USA..UK.. No matter how patriotic I am or how much I love the smells and sounds and feels of India - no life here.. I cannot go outside by myself, I have to leave my job, I cannot read the latest bestseller, I cannot read the morning newspaper..

But in small corners in India, there are bunches of unknown volunteers, taking time out of their busy life fraught with its own problems and dedicating this time to me - so that I can read using braille, and I can cross the road without waiting for someone to help me, and I can continue my employment with specially designed computers...

This thought makes me realize how truly thankful we should be to these enthusiastic, brave people who thought about the 'others' and did something too..

Well.. just discovered this organization called Esha , it is strange that i get to know of it now, while i've known its founder for more than a year now.. If I could define this noble work, Esha is an organization that works towards an Indian tomorrow, where disabled Indians don't have just two choices - live a life of dependence in India or relocate outside (of course, those who can afford).. where Indians visiting overseas don't feel 'wow' at seeing braille in elevators, movie theaters and all major corporate communications.. because in that tomorrow, we have it all in India too..

Fills me with joy, hope and gratitude..

Finally..

2008-07-21T13:52:00.003+05:30

Last weekend, I read a book (The Alchemist).. In the past one year, this was my first serious read that was not related to pregnancy or hospitals or PIH or childbirth or breastfeeding or child rearing or working-moms..

Living the complete life..

2008-07-11T10:56:00.003+05:30

Maybe it is..
Being 30 and not wishing I were 16 again..
Being 45 and not wishing I could watch animations with my kids again..
Being 60 and not wishing I can make a difference to my salaried job, if only they give me one more year..
Being 75 and knowing that I won't miss any worldly love, material or life..
Because I have lived it all and lived it well..

(I hope this blog lives until I am 75, just to check.. :) This was inspired in the office cafeteria, catching a glimpse of the latest animation movie release... in those 3 minutes i was first filled with a joyous thought ke how much fun it will be to watch these animations with baby-of-mine when he grows into a pre-schooler.. immediately followed by an apprehension ke how nostalgic it will be when he is a teenager and won't want to watch these with us any more.. then came the knowing smile that we would also grow old enough and wise enough to take all these in our stride.. :) )

Where is the Indian entrepreneur?

2008-06-11T15:25:00.006+05:30

Have you seen the indian tv commercial for a pension plan, where a small boy wants to jump into a lake but his mom says no.. he grows up and wants to quit his job, then thinks of his pregnant wife and changes his mind.. then after retirement, he finally goes back to the lake and jumps..

I keep reading about articles encouraging Indians to create jobs.. i.e., turn entrepreneur and start a company and give jobs to others.. We have a substantial population with high academic qualification, that has great ideas, networks well, works very hard.. but almost always takes a salaried job rather than starting their own business..

Why are we so different from the western world where the percentage of entrepreneurs is way higher..?

There are three things I can think of:

1. Middle class background.. Most of the educated young generation today hail from the middle class.. a section of society that always played it safe - to earn in the most secure way possible and invest the earnings in the most risk-averse way.. This getsalary-growsavings strategy had done well - the children have got a foreign education and are doing great, there's a glamorous lifestyle now. At this juncture, deviating from this strategy and the thought of diving into entrepreneurship, and possibility of losing this newfound lifestyle is quite scary..

2. Illusion of dependants.. We as Indians are brought up to financially support our kith and kin.. The ageing parents, the suffering relative, the yet-to-be married sister, the school going kid.. We just feel incomplete if it is just ourselves that we have to support financially! So, when we are on a salaried job with steady income, we feel that we make ours as well as others' life secure.. If we turn entrepreneur now, and there is no income until we reach break-even, it is not just us that will take a modest lifestyle, but also those dependants.. hmm.. what will they say.. they'd think we're so selfish.. that we shirked our responsibilities..

3. End-result obsession.. Everything we do is no good if the outcome is not first rank!! Our kids are no good if they don't hold first rank! The occasional gold-stars they get just doesn't matter! No one thanks someone for just participating - only the winner is profusely adulated and idolized..
So.. while I am at my salaried job.. today i am a team lead, tomorrow i'd be a project lead, after that i'd be practice lead.. Cool! People call me a lead all the way!! Now, if i start my own business, people will just not call me anything until i become a Tata, or an Ambani.. hmm...

We , the generation X, have to go a looong way to break out of this mentality.. until then, let's keep reading about entrepreneurship... :)

The new soul..

2008-06-02T16:01:00.003+05:30

Random thoughts the little one brings in me...

1. His bright gummy smile first thing in the morning.. reminds me how i always wake up happy but then remember the day's toils which takes my smile away!

2. The happy staring at the ceiling and giving an acknowledging smile to the just-switched-on fan...reminds me of my once held belief - we can really love any one, only if we try..

3. My eyes fill up with tears so easily these days.. suddenly i feel everyone's sorrow more closely.. suddenly i know what really it is to miss a child.. suddenly i know how my sis used to feel while crying with the sita of the sunday ramayana serial..

4. They say that babies are closer to God, I believe that.. Now I believe that God sure has a halo behind him - the little one loves to stare at any source of light. Also, now I know that God wears glasses! :)

Life changed.. again..

2008-03-13T13:48:00.002+05:30

This year january changed our lives forever.. brought a tiny human being that still has me thinking.. truly..why do we have kids..? because we get bored with ourselves..? because we forget what innocence is?! because our family wants us to? because the biological clock is ticking? because we owe it to the survival of species.? because it gives legitimacy to our relationship? because it makes us feel important? because we want to see what the cocktail of me and my best friend looks like..?

perhaps i still don't know cos the tiny one hasn't really started communicating.. his curious eyes look at us with the same intensity as they look at the wall.. he smiles at us as sweetly as he does to his mobile.. it'd be a long while, or perhaps never, when he'd say "ma i love you" and mean it too..

it was dusk..

2008-01-01T15:37:00.000+05:30

Three of us - myself and two others were trekking.. to reach the highest peak in the area.. the hills and rocks were rough.. but covered with greenery and moss..no snow.. i was at the front.. came to the edge of a rock..it was adjacent to the next one.. going to the next one will lead us to the peak.. my hand could reach the next rock but absurdly my leg could not.. i looked down.. my palms and feet started sweating.. the gap between the two rocks went down to a deep chasm.. i could not think of crossing that gap.. it was dusk and the chasm looked darker..

the three of us stayed on..did not take the leap.. found a river flowing just behind our rock.. we sat at the edge looking to the river and cried uncontrollably..

i woke up with sweat on my palms and feet..

Help me..

2007-12-12T10:40:00.000+05:30

help me not forget

the many days of care and love

the uncomplaining incessant hardwork

that someone did only for me..

help me remember

the many times i have admired

the differences that

make the other unique and valuable..

help me not wish

that the other thought just like i think..

or liked the exact things i like..

or acted as perfect as i try to act..

or agreed with me on issues dear to me..

help me bring

all the days and moments together

so that i can see

the high mountain and deep valleys together

so that i can marvel the beautiful big picture

and feel blessed for being able

to see it..

above all..help me remember this blog when i can't find that picture..

3 decades..

2007-11-21T19:37:00.001+05:30

By this month I have survived 3 decades on this planet.. So has the CPM government - in Writers' building..

All these years I have struggled, and still struggle with the fact that I am not proud of my home state.. kolkata..shibpur..saltlake.. all these places only evoke a sense of sorrow and pity in me.. Sorrow for the unemployed youth languishing on the sidewalks pretending to be intellectuals discussing the state politics... Pity for the government full of geriatric criminals that feels no guilt for making West Bengal rot away sticking only to its glorious past, like their own old bodies sticking on to the state throne for 30 long years..

The West Bengal of centuries back was way ahead of rest of India - it had elite culture and academics, true thought leaders, active workforce and an industry hub..

Today, when rest of India is zooming ahead, West Bengal is doing so in reverse gear.. There is the desperate stronghold on culture even though it is only limited to food, reprinting old novels and one ageing cricketer... Education institutes struggle to keep pace and trade is filled with uninspiring worker unions combined with an unsatiated hunger for industrialization..

As a child I remember frequenting live bangla theaters with revolving stage, based on intriguing stories and skilled dramatics.. have not heard of them for long.. and all that remains of the bangla cinema industry is poor copies of hindi movies..
Perhaps the only fresh thing that is happening are the music bands that are being created by the restless and rebel youth.. It is high time they sent the oldies in Writers' building to where they belong - Dakhineshwar..

After my dad's recent visit home when we had time to sit and chat about the political situation in West Bengal, I was curious to learn more about the Nandigram incident. Today after watching the news of violence in central Kolkata, I finally dug into the Nandigram articles.. two glaring lines made me write this blog: during the police operation to contain the resistance, the dumb public put "the women and children in the front to deter the police"!! and of course, the police promptly triggered away ".303 rifles that is known to pierce 7 people in a row"!! bhogobaan... whose side would one take! the senseless victims' or the choiceless attackers'..

Tagore can sing all he wants from his grave about 'bangla'ar maati bangla'ar jol..poorno hok'.... but as long as the 3 decade old govt. doesn't step down and give youngsters a chance, I don't see any reason for me to feel great for being a born Bangali..

Historical boo-boos...

2007-11-02T16:43:00.000+05:30

School history books in Afghanistan vouch that Pakistan continues to be under British rule..

The Chief Minsiter of Jharkhand waxes eloquent that the first lady prime minister of India, who was assassinated, was called Sonia Gandhi..

Still on the RollerCoaster

2007-10-18T09:35:00.000+05:30

Oct-17-2007
-- Sensex crashed to 17K thereabouts within a minute of trading! Market closed for an hour.. Reason being SEBI's announcement regd. controlling Participatory Notes. Closes above 18.5K
-- First day of Durga Puja - Shoshti. Bangla nostalgia pulls me big time this year, may not be able to answer the call.. Aashche bochhor..

Oct-16-2007
-- Sensex crossed 19K mark!
-- I am working from home - internet woes persist..

Oct-09-2007

2007-10-09T18:20:00.000+05:30

-- Sensex crossed 18K mark!
-- Today Karnataka was without a state government.

Smoke in the eyes..

2007-09-22T07:59:00.000+05:30

This is an account of my first visit to the ZTC Foods Division in Bangalore - which led me down a very interesting bend of thought... The office is situated in a very green and lavishly spread out campus. Most of the buildings in the campus are 1 - 2 story high - a welcome change from the multistory mammoths in ITPL or other Bangalore campuses. Right on entering the office, I could detect a very faint tobacco smell.. I just told myself that the sniffdog in me has just got an imagination too, it's thinking that since this is ZTC, there would be a tobacco stench..come on! it's just the foods division, i should be smelling more of chips, biscuits etc.. :)

As the day went by every whiff of the airconditioner brought in a sure smell of tobacco.. now i could not resist and asked my ZTC peer am i imagining?! he said most probably not - we are allowed to smoke anywhere inside the premises.. i couldn't believe my ears and asked 'anywhere'?! he casually said yes, no smoke-free zone in this building!! someone had expressed their disagreement of this policy in an email and he was made to apologise for this expression!!

That sent my alarms ringing in several directions.. would this affect TRG?! Should passion for one's profession/product be displayed in such mindless way?! Did the management of this organization get their degrees in 250BC?!

the first question was easily answered after i rang up my doc and he said it's fine for a short duration and as long as i get some fresh air now and then...

Passion for one's profession/product.... If I manufacture firearms, would I encourage shooting practice anywhere in my premises?!! If I print playboy magazines, would the strict dress-code in my office be a two-piece?! Is there no moral responsibility that ranks higher than the passion for your product/profession?!

250BC management in a 2000AD market! An employee had to apologise for expressing disagreement with the tobacco stench around him!! I hope the management of Waste Management company doesn't get inspired by the ZTC management.. ha ha!

Sep-19-2007

2007-09-20T10:09:00.000+05:30

-- Sensex crossed 16K mark! My stock portfolio shows all green for the first time..

-- SAP announces Business by Design

India goes backward - thanks to SoniaDevi!

2007-06-28T16:45:00.000+05:30

Year 2002: India's President - "Rocket Scientist"
Year 2007: India's (proposed) President - "College Queen"

Year 2002: Indian President's speech - "I have three visions for India..."
Year 2007: Indian (proposed) President's speech - "Daadiji ke shareer mein Baba aaye... "

Year 2002: Indian President wrote the book - India 2020
Year 2007: Indian (proposed) President will most possibly write: India 1010.

Soniaji JINDABAAD!

Long Term Goal

2007-02-20T11:24:00.001+05:30

When I am 60, I will not be old, I will be a Classic.

Answers to Questions I will ask in future

2007-02-01T17:52:00.000+05:30

Answer 1: No, you are not capable of living away from home any more.

Answer 2: Yes, there definitely exists someone called Lady Luck.

Answer 3: Yes, you can be weird, awkward, loud, tongue-tied, cheated, impractical, emotional, hard-boiled, looser, confused, lost.....
You are alive.

Our deepest fear..

2007-01-28T21:12:00.001+05:30

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

--Marianne Williamson, quoted in Akeelah and the Bee

Today i waddled in an ocean of morons...

2007-01-04T17:23:00.000+05:30

Went to follow up on my PAN card which was supposed to have come to me 2 months back.. After researching UTI's website, learnt that i was given a wrong coupon number, and UTI cannot search their database with my name and rest of the details (hunh?!)... in the pursuit to find the right coupon number i narrated my story to 10 different morons, reaching them through 20 different numbers.. i spent 4 hours in the Raheja towers - resolving ke 'aaj tho main pan number le ke hee rahoongee', spoke sweetly as well as toughly with faceless smarties whose only answers were "madam try this number" and "we will take 3 working days to find you which phone number to call"...i walked out of Raheja towers giving up on the whole deal... may be i will have to apply again, this time i will get right behind the counter to make sure the right coupon number is being given to me..

Just when I was cooling my paws on Raheja's ground floor.. the next barrage of morons were getting ready to treat me - in Standard Chartered, whose managers deserve to sweep the floors of ICICI in the hope to learn what service is...

Somewhere between the top floor and the ground floor of Raheja towers, i suddenly had my first serious attack of why-the-hell-did-we-leave-US syndrome..

Returned to office to find a center-wide email from the Center head with the subject "Brief Profile." Nothing before, nothing after! I could visualize my composition teacher getting right on top of the monitor and dancing on the email with savage fury... only after reading till the last para of the "brief" 5 para rant, i understood it was profile of some unknown guy leaving and another one replacing him... Flashback to last Center-wide performance meeting - one of our biggest liabilities cited by this very Center-head was Ineffective Communication!

The only thought that fills me with hope is that I may be getting my full quota of morons for the whole 2007 right today... BRING IT ON, mehearties..

(image source: http://www.maths.tcd.ie/)

King style

2006-12-15T06:38:00.000+05:30

This is the welcome kit provided by Kingfisher when you apply for the frequent flier program.

For someone who is used to getting just a number on the internet followed by a plain card, it was a shocker to me!! The kingfisher flight experience in itself was way unusual - for someone used to sitting in rickety old fleet of Northwest/American Airlines with hardly any entertainment and soda/peanuts as the only refreshment served, the spanking new RED fleet of kingfisher with individual monitors, awesome food, and the little bag of welcome goodies everytime you fly, was a "HAAN?!!" experience!

Unfortunately for a skeptic like me, instead of feeling like a satisfied customer, it ends up feeling like a sticky affair.. Too much of red, too much of warmth and too much of long legs in short skirts.. (he he..)

Somehow it brings back teenage memories of being followed closely on the road by a stranger and complimented ad nauseum..

When i fly, my expectations are for the flight to be dang on time, have friendly cabin crew who are efficient and make social conversation (i wonder if any frequent flier gives a damn about the dress as long as it is neat), a pilot/announcer who communicates flight details frequently along with a dose of good humor and someone's there at the door with a smile when i push off.. everything else, for a frequent flier, is dispensable..

i remember, one tired friday evening, on a AA return flight to chicago, the flight reached half hour ahead of the scheduled time.. the announcer said with a delight in her voice "we have reached early today, next time we are late please do remember this instance" the whole flight broke out in a chuckle and it washed away most of my work-week's fatigue..

now THAT's what i would like from an air commute, the company of an acquaintance who is efficient in getting me to the destination, topped with cordial words and body language. NOT a sticky red hollywood street character showering hugs and kisses!!

Zen and the art of subtle correction...

2006-12-13T11:14:00.000+05:30

In many ways I find Zen very similar to Gandhiism, with Zen having a tinge of arrogance and sarcasm that I find adorable.. In my mind a Zen teacher is like a mix of Gandhi and Pai Mei of KillBill..

Here is a Zen story that teaches how to correct without saying the obvious:

Many pupils were studying meditation under the Zen master Sengai. One of them used to arise at night, climb over the temple wall, and go to town on a pleasure jaunt.

Sengai, inspecting the dormitory quarters, found this pupil missing one night and also discovered the high stool he had used to scale the wall. Sengai removed the stool and stood there in its place.

When the wanderer returned, not knowing that Sengai was the stool, he put his feet on the master's head and jumped down into the grounds. Discovering what he had done, he was aghast.

Sengai said: "It is very chilly in the early morning. Do be careful not to catch cold yourself."

The pupil never went out at night again.

Bengalooru Habba

2006-12-11T21:45:00.000+05:30

Sunday evening was a treat at the Palace Grounds - we went to the bengalooru habba - a b'lore cultural event that happens every dec. Yesterday was the grand finale of the 8 day long event.

It started with Rangageethe - select songs from theatres (i.e., live theatres - yatras) - performed by B.Jayashree, that lady had some dum in her voice, it was ecstatic..She and her group seemed to be enjoying the performance to the hilt!

Then came some fashion shows - raga watches, peter england shirts (that asbsolootly bored us) and a wow bridal collection! The surprise of the evening was Arjun Rampal, with his wife Meher Jessia. Then entered Malaika arora (the chaiya chaiya lady) , she was alright.. The show wound up with kailash kher (mangal pandey ka singer). there were some good fireworks overhead throughout the evening..

the best part of the evening was, imho, that the tickets were freee!! and we by luck got tickets that had 'vvip' written on them (the hubba organizers must be devoted promoters of lady luck!) and got to sit right near the stage!

most good things in life come without a price tag haan! :)

here is bellary road in rain - we went on this road for the first time.

That Chennai of ours..

2006-12-06T10:13:00.000+05:30

Last weekend I was in Chennai - here are some of the observations:
- ze weather!!! warm sun with the coastal breeze - no s ign of the signature humidity...mmmm... there was som ething in the breeze that brought back memories of scho ol and college days - a feeling of " there is nothing i can't achieve"

- Autowallas - a marked difference from the rude bangalore ones! yes they will pinch an extra 5-10Rs. from you but they will gladly go anywhere u want them to go!

- Elliots beach - where is that vast expense of sand ending in rolling waves?! now it is bajji shops, kadlai shops and bhutta shops covering most of the sand, and there is such a crowd at the coast getting a little space to sit down is tough. heard that post - 10pm it is like old elliots though..

- T-nagar - Retail boom is o-so-obvious here! Pothys has dropped its kachda image of Raja Rani and stuff and become a la spencer with very affordable collection..branded and non-branded apparel side by side. a clean food court on the topmost floor... 6 glaswalled elevators.. each floor decorated according to its collection (the pattu saree floor was traditionally decorated with lamps, the western wear floor had contemporary posters)... Saw the poshlooking Saravana Stores building, heard that they ahve everything under one roof and very affordable.. .sorry b'lore, henceforth my shopping bucks go to chennai..

Children and their link to Parental Ego

2006-11-20T10:32:00.000+05:30

Recently I was analyzing the development of ego in children and how much contribution parents have in this process. I have not found the answer yet but in this process I realized how parental ego gets fuelled heavily by having children.

By the time a person reaches his adult age, enters married life, he has achieved a certain social and financial status. In this process he has also got mired in the complexities of life, the shrewd calculations to stay ahead in the race, and the constant fuelling of the ego to excel.
At this point, the desire to have a child would have these initial expectations:

1) A desire to return to innocence.. remember again how liberating free, selfless flow of thought and action can be.

2) Stay in touch with the creativity and youth of childhood.

3) Be instrumental in another being's existence and survival, thereby being selfless, giving preference to object libido (love towards the outside, away from self) over ego libido (love towards inside, towards self)

4) However, if the parent has faced a few significant failures in his life, there is a subconscious expectation from the yet-to-be-born child to succeed in those areas that the parent failed in. This could be the only appearance of pre-parental ego.

But as the infant is born, here are the ways these expectations take a different turn:

1) Association of the parent's physical and behavioral features with the child's - directly linking the parent's ego with the child's being (a reason that prevents adoption from being popular)

2) Comparision of the child with the peer age group, constantly throughout the growth phase. This again fuels the ego of the child as well as the parent, to be better than others.

3) Inhibition of the child's free expression and interests, to conform with the societal norms of success.

4) An expectation of a emotional/financial 'return' from the child when he grows up. In Indian society this return mainfests in gestures like taking the first salary to the parents, taking care of the parents when they are old, etc.

This is just a summary of the two lines of thought that may be working subconsciously in a parent's mind, before he has the child and after. This summary is not judgmental but purely analytical.

Rediscovery of India?!

2006-09-22T10:10:00.000+05:30

1. 3 years is enough time to get dumbed down and forget how to survive here... Took me 2 months to truly get used to the roads again (ie to drive at par with the auto/cab guys)

2. lack of tools.. while putting up a train passenger list, the railway guy was using his bare hands to spread the adhesive on the train... a simple brush would've looked so much more elegant in the artist's hands!

3. garbage ...garbage .... everywhere! just an efficient garbage disposal system will give India a huge facelift.. while travellin from cbe to blr, the bushes right out of the station looked like cotton trees from some distance...when the train pulled closer they were vast fields of dry bushes covered with plastic bags...

4. public transportation.. the lovely and the ugly

the lovely: city buses have recognized market need surprisingly well! along with usual city buses, BMTC has fleets of shining volvo buses that are air-conditioned, have plush seats and play the hip radio channels on lovely speakers! the ticket price is thrice the usual city bus ticket price, but worth every paisa! (here are some pics from one mr.ravikumar's blog)

the ugly: auto-rickshaws of bangalore! the rick drivers have more attitude than any child actor of hollywood/bollywood! they will agree to go from point A to point B only if:
1. point B is en route to their home
2. point B is right on an autostand so they don't have to waste a second of their precious time waiting for passengers..
3. you are willing to go by the 'meter+50' demand...

if none of the above points are met, you may have to ask some 15 autodrivers and see them turning away (without bothering to say "no") before you find one who will say 'yes' and you'd feel blessed!

5. themepark... i've been only to Wonderla since coming here but that one experience has highly impressed me! No individual ride tickets, no impolite park employees, no kachda lying everywhere, no line jumping... the last factor caused the most exhileration in me - there was a long line for the dashing car ride, and a little girl got impatient and jumped the line and wiggle right to the entry spot where a security guy was letting the next batch in.. the security guard sternly told this girl to go out of the line and not come back for this ride!!! even though i felt bad for the little girl, i felt like clapping my hands at the enforcement of discipline!! if only more law enforcers knew the meaning of 'enforcement', india could have its common man less frustrated...

6. vehicles.. the most evident sign of a booming economy - shining cars, are clogging the roads. a new bike (ie the motorcycles) model comes out every two months! and Reva... makes me really proud - the world's cheapest electric vehicle, quite a few of them on Bangalore roads.. only problem is charging it...only parking spots of private houses are equipped with the 15Amps outlet that the battery charger requires..

Throw-away..

2006-05-02T01:19:00.000+05:30

Today i dug in the bag of old clothes that i had packed to give away cos they don't suit me..Took out a green shirt and wore it to work..Didn't give it any thought until at the starbucks line a lady approched me to say how lovely the shirt was.... Ha! Obviously, this shirt will not go back to that bag - long live the public!

3 and more reasons why i like the US of A..

2006-02-17T00:01:00.000+05:30

1. Overall quality of work, work culture
2. Outdoor life - Hiking, biking, watersports..
3. Comedy clubs
4. Told my boss that I will be leaving the project and firm in a month and she still backs me up like ever before, if not more! (out of gratitude that I gave her ample time to re-staff)

(wrote this while i was in US.. now i'm in India!)

3 and more reasons why i want to go back to India

2006-02-17T00:00:00.001+05:30

1. In the first place, never wanted to settle down here..
2. Won't get fat as easily in India, as i do here..
3. Can watch those two brats grow up and hear their cribs and be part of their triumphs..
4. Can wear lovely colorful salwaars to work, or graceful sarees..so much variety!!
5. Can afford to visit the beauty parlor every month and get lavishly pampered!!
6. Can start my own business any time..
7. Easily identify with people around..
8. To add spice to the end of a dark day, I could choose to drown myself in aampanna, moghlai parota, fish roll, fish orly, chaatpapri, panipuri, aloo tikki chaat, daab chingri, malpoa, ilish paturi, crunchy jalebis, mutton chop, and otherrrslurrp...

Update on 13-July-2006: Yes! finally here!

Castaldi's Ozdust

2006-01-25T10:10:00.000+05:30

Had a wonderful evening at Castaldi's.. The servers sang from classic musicals and they all had amazing voices.. I had my jaws drop at 'Old man river'...and was delighted on hearing 'I am not that girl' from Wicked, sung by the same lady who served us..

The O'Reilly factor in IT consulting

2006-01-25T09:50:00.000+05:30

Picture Bill O'Reilly - a cutting edge IT consultant... Difficult??!! Perhaps not if you are an oldtimer in this game, perhaps you yourself are one!! He would have some interesting conservative thoughts in the information sharing area:

-- blogs, instant messages encourage 'instant gratification' in society
-- blogs, wikis and websites in general contain 'too much information' and are more of 'legal liabilities'

Wondering how to weigh this..

Gotto get a haircut, i look like Yoko Ono..

Added on 04 Oct:

I figure that the co-existence of this conservatism in the IT economy is important. While the IT area is dominated by Gen Y onward, Generation X may seem old-fashioned and conservative but the huge experiencebase that they carry is quite humbling for us... This addendum is to recognize that a bit of the 'o'reilly factor' is important in every team..

Random thoughts at end of work-week

2006-01-07T06:47:00.000+05:30

In the subway train to airport today my head was heavy with the nuances of the work week.. nothing earthshatteringly important, yet they occupied every corner of my upper story like cockroaches in my baton rouge student apartment... :) I tried to sleep those off but sleep was already having a friday party somewhere..i even tried thinking of my favorite things (not ' Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens' though, there was the snow missing outside.. :) )..

Then..in the airport lugged the suitcase and my heavy backpack and paused at the ben & jerry's.. Got the smallest cone of the littlest scoop of the low fat Cherry Garcia...Took the first bite and it was nirvana... one could hear the hymnical 'aaaaaaaaah' in the back ground and me floating above all others... looking back it was like kumar and harold taking a bite of their Whitecastle sandwich.... after a long bizarre night...
(lest this blog be misread as product endorsement, i like coldstone more than b&j)

For posterity

2005-12-29T22:09:00.000+05:30

Like every other thinking being, many thoughts zoom past my head, some I hold for long enough to share with another being/thing.. When I was in high school, it used to be a daily diary - my kitchen-sink of thoughts, then in college and thereafter it was a friend on my bandwidth, now that my lifestyle involves lot more travel I think of getting back to the journal mode again, to record the zooming thoughts for posterity, to read them years later and feel great for having/not having become wiser :)

Now it is the spring-winter in Chicago - bang before the new year but all the snow has melted.. I am just back from a 2-day skiing session on the Cascade mountains in Wisconsin and enjoying my 10 day annual vacation lazing at home, driving down to the local library and getting loads of movies and books, playing my keyboard, watching Venkie tune his guitar ad infinitum, cooking together (since our work involves travelling, we don't get to cook as much as we'd like to), and eating home-cooked meal - thrice a day!

Okay, let me figure out how I can set rest of my blogspot up!